Fort William (Sauvie Island, Oregon)
Sauvie Island · Oregon · Fur Trade Era
History & Significance
Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth, a Boston merchant, established Fort William in 1834 with American investors backing his venture to penetrate the Pacific Northwest fur trade. The post was initially built on the northern end of Sauvie Island but was relocated toward the center the following year due to seasonal flooding.
Wyeth and his crew engaged in multiple commercial ventures—cutting and exporting lumber to the Hawaiian Islands, constructing boats and canoes, and building a 60-foot processing facility for salmon. In 1837, Wyeth sold the post to the British Hudson's Bay Company, which operated the nearby Fort Vancouver on the north side of the Columbia.
In 1835, Fort William became the site of a murder and the first European American trial held in present-day Oregon, when the post's gunsmith, Thomas J. Hubbard, killed the tailor; naturalist John Kirk Townsend presided as magistrate, and a jury acquitted Hubbard on grounds of justifiable homicide. Despite these efforts, Wyeth's young company proved unable to compete against the Hudson's Bay Company, which controlled fur prices and dominated trade on the lower Columbia. After Wyeth left the Pacific Northwest, Fort Vancouver's Chief Factor John McLoughlin ordered Fort William demolished and replaced it with a dairy farm.
Key Facts
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Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_William_(Oregon)
- https://www.nps.gov/articles/sauvieisland.htm
- https://sauvieisland.org/visitor-information/historical-areas/fort-william/
- https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/facts/history/pre-land.aspx
- https://fortwiki.com/Fort_William_(1)